THE finishing touches are being put to a £1.2m redevelopment of Ysbyty Gwynedd’s Alaw Day Unit.

There are currently more than 4,000 incidences of cancer in north Wales, and more than 1,800 patients are treated every year on the specialist Alaw Unit. The number of people being diagnosed with cancer is continuing to rise.

The current unit has received no major improvements since it opened in 1999.

Thanks to the generosity of charities including the Gwynedd Haematology and Cancer Relief Fund, which contributed £500,000 towards the project, Friends of Alaw, and donations given through NHS Charity Awyr Las, the ward now has a new lease of life.

The improvements include double the current number of consulting rooms, increasing bed capacity from four to 14, a new reception and separate waiting room for outpatients, and a dedicated room for stem cell patients in the day unit.

Chas Muskett an oncology nurse practitioner on Alaw, said: “The older the population gets the more likely it is that people will develop cancer, but with the advent of a whole generation of novel anti-cancer drugs we are able to treat a bigger population of patients than previously. Since we began using these new drugs there has been a significant upwards trend in survival rates. Over the last few years it’s become more and more obvious that we needed to be able to increase capacity on Alaw.

“This work has made all the difference, it’s now a lovely, bright, modern space. The new facilities mean more privacy and space for patients in the treatment area. Generally it’s just a much more pleasant environment.”